I’m thinking of quitting

Hey Reader,

Hello from Pereira, Colombia, where Steven and I are staying with friends who built a pretty f*cking magnificent home. I’m drinking a lot of guanábana, the juice I didn’t know I needed (on demand).

Laura Belgray sitting on a modern outdoor patio, sipping a light green beverage from a glass, with brick walls and large windows behind her; she has sunglasses resting on her head and purple-painted nails.

I’m here now because, like a lunatic, I agreed to a plan where I lead 2 straight days of writing and 1 of masterminding, including a group dinner and a cocktail party, and then — not 36 hours later — boarded a plane.

As for the writing retreat, Bingeworthy Live:

Laura Belgray in a bright yellow top taking a selfie inside a light-filled workshop space, while a group of people sit at tables behind her writing; on-screen text reads “Getting ‘em writing from the get go at my NYC retreat Bingeworthy Live” with a location tag “Flaweless.”

I’m delighted to announce that every person who attended is a brilliant writer.

Some of them knew it already, some found out there in the room.

On their laptops, reMarkable tablets, or good old pen and paper, they wrote about growing up, money*, and breakfast — among other highly personal things. My goal was to get everyone writing in their own voice. And they did.

They all used concrete, original detail and wrote without a trace of robot-professor-exec-in-khakis-on-LinkedIn speak. No squishy, vague coach-speak either. Not a drop of “step into your power”-ese.

They were in turns hilarious, touching, outrageous, and all three.

Everyone’s work got an A, which stands for AI Could Never.

Want in on the next Bingeworthy Live?

Pencil in March 21 and 22 (not yet official, but probable) and get on the waitlist here.

A few highlights I can’t for the life of me string together coherently:

- One attendee, Diane, read aloud a piece that referenced the “bachelor pad bathroom” where she was staying.

I invited her to tell us more. She described the bathmat as being so soaked, it “squished” when you stepped on it. THAT, my friend, is detail. One that persuaded her to stay in a hotel next time instead of with her son.

Woman with short blonde hair and glasses speaking into a handheld microphone while seated at a table during a workshop, with other participants listening and taking notes in a bright room with large plants in the background.

- My friend Julie Reisler said two things I had to write down:

1 - “This experience, in this room, has been a total chiropractic realignment. I’m changed.”

2 - “This is a room full of unicorns. Laura, you run a unicorn farm.” Imagine: me, who wheezes asthmatically within a mile of a horse, running a unicorn farm? But these unicorns are dander free, house trained, and great with words.

So I’d say I’m quitting to run a unicorn farm, except apparently I just have to keep doing what I do.

- One Shrimp Club member, Nicole, came up to me during lunch with incredible news: she’d submitted the essay she read aloud in her hot seat — which I had encouraged her to attend because we hadn’t seen her in a while — to a prestigious literary competition…and it’s been selected as a finalist! I roped her into announcing it.

Woman with curly hair and glasses speaking into a handheld microphone during a workshop, standing in front of a seated audience working on laptops in a bright, modern room, while another woman with an orange scarf smiles in the background.

“If you hadn’t reached out when you did,” she told me, “none of it would have happened.”

These are the moments I live for. At our Shrimp Club retreat the next day, I got another one:

- Kathryn Hastings, who's in Shrimp Club for her second round, just crossed the $1M/year mark in her luxury wax seal business.

She once hated her old job so much she scheduled a gynecologist appointment to skip work.

Now she's making seven figures doing something she loves — and her creations are designed to last 300 years or more. Long after we're dead. So plenty of bang for the buck.

- Terri Trespicio rocked the room with her talk on writing and Gateless-style prompts and feedback. Everyone was coming up to me afterward and thanking me for Terri like I gave birth to her.

Woman with curly hair and glasses speaking into a handheld microphone while standing at the front of a bright workshop space, gesturing as attendees sit at tables behind her listening.

She also participated in the whole retreat and read us her breakfast piece. It described yogurt as “slutty,” giving it a brutal shaming we’re all still talking about.

I’ll have to give our Shrimp Club retreat the full treatment it deserves in another email. Three days is a lot for one.

Back to my guanábana juice. Or should I have passionfruit? Both are on offer. Gonna give my friends an excellent Yelp review.

xoLaura

PS - *I starred “money” up top because if you’d like a better relationship with it (which leads to more of it) I’ve got an invitation for you: my friend Kate Northrup’s 3-day workshop, Good With Money. It starts in April. Grab your seat here.

PPS - Some more pics:

Two images of workshop participants seated around tables in a bright room, with several women raising their hands to participate while others take notes on laptops, surrounded by coffee cups, water bottles, and notebooks.

Person standing and smiling while reading from a phone into a handheld microphone during a workshop, with attendees seated around tables listening and working in a bright room with large mirrors and plants.

Person seated at a table writing in a notebook during a workshop, with a printed handout on a stand in front of them and a water bottle, tumbler, and laptop nearby.

Two images from a workshop: in the first, a woman stands speaking into a microphone while holding a tablet, addressing seated participants; in the second, attendees sit at tables smiling, listening, and taking notes in a bright, modern room.

Close-up of a notebook filled with handwritten notes and doodles from a writing exercise, with a green pen nearby; overlaid text reads “first ever writing workshop with the forever fab @laurabelgray” and “#mamaescapades.”

PPPS - For future reference, this is how I like my breakfast. Thanks!

Plate with sliced kiwi, papaya, pineapple, a piece of cake, and a lime wedge on a glass table overlooking an outdoor pool and distant greenery under a cloudy sky.

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Thank you for reading and sharing,
Laura

Laura Belgray (Talking Shrimp)

I’m thinking of quitting

Someone needs a good ass-kicking

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100K, teleportation, and no brown M&Ms